Abstract
Purpose: :
Chronic Central Serous Choroidopathy (CSC), is generally characterized by multifocal, irregularly distributed and often widespread RPE changes , with a duration of symptoms and/or retinal detachment of more than 6 months. Light-adsorbing macular carotenoids (MCs),i.e. lutein and zeaxantin, are efficient free radical scavengers in human retina and might play a role in the wellness of the RPE in the chronic CSC. The present study aimed at verifying whether MCs levels correlate with the stages of progression of the disease and if they can be predictive of subsequent visual outcome
Methods: :
We examined retrospectively 40 consecutive eyes of 40 patients of 30-50 years old (mean age 45.6 years) that were divided in two matched groups: i) control (negative for CSC, n=20); and ii) CSC group (n=20) in the chronic phase of CSC. All patients underwent fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography, OCT 3. The levels of MCs were measured by a resonance Raman spectroscope in all of the subjects. Both the eyes of each subject were monitored and triplicate measurements were performed at each time. Moreover, pupil dilatation, instrument self-adjustment and appropriate eyeglasses correction were used.
Results: :
MCs levels, measured as Raman counts (SD), were 1960 (260) and 1550 (410) in the control and in the chronic CSC groups, respectively. The difference among the groups was statistically significant (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: :
A role of MCs in the pathogenesis and stages of CSC is proposed herein and future investigations are warranted to further clarify these aspects and to test their possible clinical use in the treatment of this pathology.
Keywords: carotenoids/carotenoid binding proteins • macula/fovea • macular pigment